Coffin-fastener



(No Model.) 7 4 L. B. WOODARD.

OOPPIN FASTENER.

No. 417,619. Patented Dec. 17, 1889.

N. PETERS. HMO-Lithographer. walhingwn D C UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LYMAN E. WOODARD, OF OWOSSO, lVIIOHIGANp COFFlN-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 417,619, dated December 17, 1889.

Application filed September 12,1889. Serial No. 323,740. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LYMAN E. WOODARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Owosso, in the county of Shiawassee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coffin-Lid Fasteners; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in coffin-lid fasteners, and is designed more particularly as an improvement upon the device for which patent was obtained by me, dated August 27, 1889, No. 410,060; and it has for its object, among others,.to provide for the self-adjustment of the fastener to the different thicknesses of cloth used on the casket. Usually casketshells are made up in advance and the fasteners applied at the manufactory, it not being known whether the shells are to be covered with thin crape or thick silk plush, and with the old form of fastener the fasteners would not work satisfactorily with either thin or thick material; but with the fastener herein described the thickness of the material is no obstacle to the perfect working of the catch or fastener,

The novelty in the present instance resides in the peculiar combinations and the construction, arrangement, and adaptation of parts, all as more fully hereinafter described, shown in the drawings, and then particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which,-with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a coffin or casket,

Nvith parts broken away, showing my improved fastening for the lid thereof. Fig. 2 is a top plan of one of the side walls of the coffin or casket. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the same on the line a: x of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail, on an enlarged scale, showing one of the fasteners.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the details of the drawings by movable lid B.

1etter,.A designates a coffin or casket of any of the usual forms and provided with a re- The lid is secured detachably and adjustably in place by means of my improved fasteners, which I will now proceed to describe. I

In the top edge of the side walls of the coffin or casket I form mortises, preferably four, as shownone near each end of each side wall-and over each of these mortises I place a metallic plate 0, having end flanges 0 perforated to receive the securing means, as

screws, and with a hole to admit the fastening. In Fig. 2 I have shown this hole as having an inclined portion at, making one portion narrower than the other, and this is the construction I employ when the fastener is designed to lock and unlock by endwise movement of the lid; but when the lid is designed to be engaged and disengaged by a Vertical movement of the lid I form the plate 0, as shown in Fig. 4,'with a depressed portion I), to receive the right-angle bend of the fastener, hereinafter described.

The latch or fastener D is composed of a flat strip of spring metal, and is bent into the shape shownthat is, with two substantially parallel arms d and e, from the latter of which there projects a right-angle bend f, which is provided with a downwardly-bent piece 9, forming a convenient thumb-piece, by which the catch may be operated. This right-angled portion works beneath the horizontal portion of the plate h, avoiding cutting away of said plate, which plate is provided with suitable holes to receive the means by which it is designed to be secured to the under side of the lid. Projecting from the front edge or face of the outer arm of the catch D is a beveled projection E, having two inclines, one from the bottom toward the center and the other from the center toward the top, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4.

- The depressed plate shown in Fig. 4 may be used either with coffins or caskets having hinged tops or lids, or where the lid is designed to be engaged and disengaged by a direct vertical movement; but in both instances I employ the form of catch shown.

In practice the beveled projection E,being carried by the yielding arm, affords a firm catch adapted to coffins having thin or thick coverings, avoiding resetting or readjusting of the fastener. WVhen once put on, the fastener is a fixture and does not have to be changed, no matter what style of covering may be selected. A fixed or unyielding Wedge or projection would not serve the purpose, for the reason that it would hold more or less loose or firmly, according to the diiference in thickness of the covering of the shell. By my construction the lid is held firmly in place no matter what the thickness of the covering.

I may use as many of these fasteners on a lid as may be found desirable; butI prefer to use four, as shown, althoughwhen four are used I prefer to leave ofi of the two at one end the right-angle portion, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, simply forming the hole in the plate 0 with an inclined portion, as seen at the lefthand side ofv Fig. 2, and the plates at the other end Witha shoulder j beyond the inclined portion, as shown at the rightof Fig.

2, the spring-arm of the catch springing in and engaging said shoulder after it has passed the incline.

\Vhat I claim as new is In a fastening for cotfin or casket lids, the combination, with a keeper having a depressed portion b, of a spring-catch consisting of a plate formed for attachment to the lid and with a bow-spring having a lateral portion and a single centrally-arranged projection E extending from the movable leg of the bow-spring at right angles thereto and formed with a double bevel beneath the lateral portion of the plate, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

LYHAN E. WQODARD.

Witnesses:

WARREN WOODWARD, THOMAS M. WILEY. 

